We met to discuss 'The Talented Mr. Ripley', a 1955 psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith.

The central character, Tom Ripley, evoked liking, disgust, sneaky admiration, sympathy and distaste. We were appalled by his amoral outlook and yet often we wanted him to succeed. Whatever we felt, we had to keep turning the pages to find out what happened and whether he got his comeuppance in the end.

We admired the author’s ability to draw a character who somehow made the reader complicit in his moral ambiguity, although we suspected that she herself was not a very likeable person and that perhaps in Ripley she was reflecting her own moral stance and desire to ‘get away with it’.

We also admired her writing and ability to draw vivid images of cities and buildings in just a few words, making many of us yearn to visit Italy some time soon.

The author wrote four more books around Ripley. A few of us wanted to read on to find out what happened next, and whether anyone ever managed to see him for what he was. Others thought one book was quite enough.

Some of us remembered enjoying the 1999 film with Matt Damon, Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow but suspected that it was rather different from the book. One of us tried to watch the film after reading the book and gave up.

Eight enjoyed the book (some reluctantly!) and there was only 1 thumb down.

We will be meeting on Tuesday 20 February to discuss ‘Balancing Act’ by Joanna Trollope which is about the pressure of combining family and business. You are very welcome to join us!